This funding, matched by the University of Cambridge, is to build a National Research Facility for Infrastructure Sensing at West Cambridge, which will build upon the expertise of the University's Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction. The interdisciplinary research facility, due to open in spring 2019, will be accommodated in the Department of Engineering's new Civil Engineering Building and will focus on research in the application and development of advanced sensor technologies for the monitoring of the UK's existing and future infrastructure, in order to improve resilience and extract maximum whole life value.

As well as the NRFIS, the building will accommodate related research groups' laboratories and workshops within the Civil Engineering division, including Structures, Construction and Geotechnics, to foster collaboration and allow for sensing technologies to be thoroughly tested in a range of scenarios and materials.

The major new building on the West Cambridge Campus will house:

- double and single height laboratories for rapid prototyping and open-source microcontroller platforms to produce and develop novel sensors systems at a range of scales

- vibration isolated and severe environment laboratories to test and calibrate sensors under a range of environmental conditions and temperatures